Santa Monica College’s Associated Students sponsored the 7th Annual Public Policy Institute Symposium on May 10, Wednesday night. With several students left standing in the back or sitting on the floor, the crowded event took place in SMC’s Cayton Center.

“When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.”President Donald Trump delivered this line in his inaugural speech on January 20, 2017, while addressing a crowd that Press Secretary Sean Spicer, labeled the largest inauguration crowd in history.

Her eyes betray hidden exhaustion but instantly light up when she speaks. Her black jacket and muted grey shirt are elegantly simplistic, drawing all attention to her statement piece, a scarf – vibrant in its deep hues of brown, patterned by red diagonals, it whispers hints of her rich cultural background, traces of Ethiopia.